There has been like a vibration on my passenger side front suspension but it wasn't nothing serious and I even replaced the control arm but that didn't do anything...well I just put some S-Techs on and me being an idiot didn't think that it would mess with the vibrations from down there well...IT DID!!! It feels like I am driving over big rocks like "clunk...clunk...clunk" I'm leaning towards the strut but it only seems to do it when the drivetrain goes from no load to load, like only when you give it gas, if you just coast or something it won't do anything. Wouldn't a strut still act like this all the time or just on bumps...please help me I am so lost on this one. Thanks.

 

Sounds like a bad strut mount.

 

I am probably going to buy 2 new front struts anyway so hopefully that way if it is the strut mount then that will be fixed also...probably should mention that my Maxima has 205,000miles on the struts...lol

 

I don't mean this in a smartelic way at all...seriosly I was just wondering what exactly could go wrong with the strut mount to mess with it...like what's something I should be looking for maybe?

 

Bump....anybody else have any suggestions?

 

Check to see if everythign is torqued down to specs. Perhaps your strut to knuckle bolts are loose. Or like above, your strut mounts are bad.

 

blown strut...

 

I tend to agree! My shocks felt and sounded fine before I put in my Eibach springs. Soon as I was done with the install, I could tell the shocks were bad making that clunking noise. I ended up replacing all 4.

Shocks/struts should definetly be changed when putting in lowering springs.

 

make sure the top hat bolt is nice and tight. I forgot to tighten it once before and it sounded exactly what you are describing.

 

Update: I have taken everybody's opinion into consideration and I think it's probably going to be the strut mount...I have checked all of the bolts/nuts and they are all nice and tight. Also I just got done jacking the car up and letting out the clutch and letting the tire spin...whenever I slam on the breaks the car goes boom boom clunk and shakes real hard and hits real hard and makes a sound like something is like broke or something...my dad thinks it's definitely either the strut mount or the cv joint...does this change anybody's opinion?

edit: I have been reading more and more on symptoms of a bad cv joint/axle and they are almost identical to the actual symptoms that I am having...take a look, I know it's on a Saab website but it still should be the same, scroll down to the "What are some of the signs of a bad joint"

http://www.saabnet.com/tsn/faq/cvboot.html

 

bump...anybody think this is the problem or something else maybe?

 

Our CV's just click and click when they are on their way out.

Hardly ever and it's very rare for it to exhibit any other symptoms. Inspect your CV's and see how they look.

 

It has clicked before like whenever I have taken off but not all the time. I have ordered two seperate axles and they were both too short but whenever I was looking at mine they looked just as good as the new ones...so maybe it's something else, I just don't know what?

 

bump.........

 

 

Alright so I drove around my neighborhood with the hood off and was watching the strut mount and there was no play whatsoever, I have already ordered two axles which were too short. Is there any other part you guys can think of that this might be???

 

That bolt at the top of the strut, if not properly torqued makes that noise

 

If it is the shocks, it is VERY easy to diagnose...any blown strut means you have an "undamped" system. bounce the car a few times, just push down on the hood/trunk and get it oscillating. if you stop bouncing it and it keeps bouncing, a decent amount, you ahve blown struts. If you do the same thing with the hood open, you will see movement of the main nut if the mounts are messed up.

From what you are describing...i would say check the wheel bearings. if the noise is happening over bumps, check ball joints and stabilizer links as well. The load/no load could point to the transmission, but i would not be too concerned with this as it is only on one side.

Check the axle nut to make sure that it is tight and torqued down...but my gut is saying wheel bearing...and pretty bad at that. I dont know why suspension mod would have changed that other than you can feel it a little more cause of the stiffer spring preventing the damper from absorbing it as much.

Give more details or PM me. I think i can narrow this down with a bit more info.